52 FOKEST KESEKVES IN" IDAHO. 



Eiver, and the Eeclamation Service emphatically declares that upon 

 its creation largely depends the success of the Boise Valley irrigation 

 project. 



PAYETTE FOREST RESERVE. 



We now come to the proposed Payette Forest Reserve. 



This reserve is in central Idaho, and occupies portions of Idaho, 

 Boise, and Washington counties, and contains about 1,381,376 acres, 

 most of which is unsurveyed. This reserve is designed chiefly to pro- 

 tect the watersheds of the North Payette River and several tribu- 

 taries of the Salmon. Nearly all of this area is within the addition 

 to the Bitter Root Forest Reserve, embraced within the withdra^sal 

 of 3,000,000 acres in November, 1902, on the suggestion of the Recla- 

 mation Service. It constitutes the only portion of the Bitter Root 

 Forest Reserve south of the Salmon River, and for the advantages 

 of administration it is recommended as a separate reserve instead of 

 as an addition to the Bitter Root Reserve, as was first contemplated. 



It is a high, forested mountain region, subject to a heavy snowfall, 

 and gives rise to many large streams which supply water for immense 

 agricultural districts in southern Idaho. There is scarcely any cul- 

 tivable land within this reserve. The soil is poor and the country 

 exceedingly rough. Nearly half of the area is almost worthless for 

 any purpose except that of protecting the streams. It is too inaccess- 

 ible even for grazing and contains little promise of mineral. 



The forest consists of bull pine, red fir, tamarack, lodgepole pine, 

 and balsam. The cultivable lands all together consist of about 5,000 

 acres. 



There has never been any lumbering within the proposed reserve, 

 nor is there likely to be any great demand upon it for many years 

 unless for the use of small mines. The timber ought to be protected, 

 however, for some time in the not distant future there will be a 

 demand, when the other and unreserved timber of Idaho has been 

 destroyed, and that destruction is wasteful and almost criminally 

 rapid now. It is as a conservor of irrigation waters, however, that 

 this region demands the greatest consideration. The Payette River 

 is one of the most important streams which flows through arid agri- 

 cultural Idaho; and if the spring run-off is hastened by the destruc- 

 tion or denudation of the watersheds, the success of the Boise-Payette 

 irrigation enterprise will not be possible. Fire is the great destruc- 

 tive agent in this region, and the loss on this account can be minimized 

 through forest regulations. A'VHiiile the region is naturally adapted to 

 sheep grazing and should be devoted to it, regulations for its protec- 

 tion, as well as that of other interests, should be established and 

 enforced. No industry will be injuriously affected by the establish- 

 ment of this forest reserve, and, on the other hand, irrigation, stock 

 grazing, and mining interests will be benefited. Some sheep men and 

 those who are hostile to the forest-reserve policy in general oppose 

 this reservation; outside of these comparatii^ely few, sentiment gen- 

 erally favors it. 



Senator Heyburn officially opposes the creation of this reserve in 

 the following language. I quote him : 



With reference to the Payette addition, my objections are based upon the fact 

 that it includes a vast quantity of land upon which there is no timber. It also 



